I have about 4 years ago, maybe longer. I dropped my cable service because it was expensive and I found that I could save a few bucks by using streaming basically because there was not much on ‘regular’ TV that I liked….I am not into food game shows or reality anything and I definitely could care less about any celeb.
Since I switched I have watched the streaming fees go up and up and the ads are just as irritating as those on ‘regular’ TV.
So why are my fees going sky high?
Remember when cutting the cable cord and switching to streaming services was supposed to save you money?
We’re quite a few years into the streaming revolution, in which big companies and Hollywood studios invested billions into new streaming services, many with a plus sign in their names. We’re talking about Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV+, Paramount+, Peacock, Max, Hulu and Amazon Prime Video, plus smaller niche brands like Shudder and Acorn TV. Traditional broadcast networks and some cable channels are still making new shows, but if you’re looking for the most Emmy-nominated, high-profile series with the biggest stars attached, you’ve got to start your internet connection.
It’s all well and good if you like binge-watching, but have you checked your monthly subscription bills lately? Because those charges for Peacock and Disney+ might be quite a bit higher than they were when you signed up.
When platforms like Disney+ and Apple TV+ first arrived, they offered bargain-basement prices for monthly subscriptions to lure consumers into the fold before increasing rates. Since paying for “Bluey” and “Ted Lasso” is already a line item on your budget, you may have missed that fees have been slowly (and sometimes quickly) increasing at almost every service. You want Hulu, and you want it without ads? Well, that will run you a steep $18.99 a month by October, after the latest hike on all Disney services takes effect. Back when ad-free Hulu was introduced in 2015, it cost only $11.99.
Just take a look at the current and upcoming prices of all the major streamers, bundles and new sports-only app Venu, expected this month.
It is like everything else in our society….greed is driving the bus….
What to do?
Any thoughts?
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
I wish I could just pay for the few dozen channels I watch and drop the bill lower.
There are some free sites out there….but live news is more important to me. chuq
Just get an antenna. It’s a money saver.
We dropped cable 15, 20 years ago already. It had gotten to the point where we would have been paying $120 a month or even more to get the channels we wanted thanks to the packaging system they’d put in place. With the introduction of digital television we get something like 35 over-the-air channels for free if we want to watch that crap, but I haven’t watched commercial television in something like 20+ years. I have way more fun things to do: woodworking, photography, playing with amateur radio, fiddling with laser engravers, etc. I do subscribe to Netflix and Amazon prime video because Netflix has a lot of Korean television and Amazon has a lot of fun old movies.
Oh, and Youtube Premium for Chinese television and misc. stuff.
I have been without cable for about 11 years….we saved about a $150 dollars…..I spend a lot of time writing and researching so TV is just a background noise most of the time. chuq
Our TV is still connected by a roof aerial, and we have around 80 channels free of charge to view. (Other than having to pay the compulsory licence fee for BBC content) I do subscribe to one streaming service, called NOW TV here, which allows me to catch up on anything I have missed, and offers some free films and other shows too. That is only £9.99 a month. Mainly, I use a 1tb PVR to ‘series record’ anything I really want to see and that allows me to record 5 channels while still watching one. I rarely ‘binge-watch’, as I am old school and like to wait until next week to see what happens! 😊
Best wishes, Pete.
I am not a binger either….. they have it here where free is a bad word…LOL chuq
I have an antenna for local channels on 1 TV. It really helps.
I have considered the possibility but so far I have delayed any decision. chuq
You get several channels. Mine was about $60. No problems with it either.
I shall check into it…thanx chuq